


Sunshine Child

by RedKingKelly



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dai-nana-han/Team 7, Ensemble Cast, F/M, Gen, Genderbending, Genin Teams, Konohamaru Corps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-07-01 10:58:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15772743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedKingKelly/pseuds/RedKingKelly
Summary: When one thing changes, so too does everything else. Uzumaki Naruto has one difference from Canon-Naruto, but that one difference is enough to alter everything. Kakashi's going to have an interesting time with this Team Seven.





	1. Introducing - Uzumaki Naruto

"UZUMAKI!"

The short little blonde haired child cackled madly as they ran, golden locks waving wildly in the breeze created by the speed they were racing at across the rooftops of Konoha.

"Get back here, you little brat!"

"How dare you!"

"What do you think you're doing, defiling the Hokage Monument?!"

The child turned around to face their pursuers, only long enough for them to poke their tongue out at the approaching chūnin, and for said chūnin to note the gleeful mischief dancing in bright blue eyes. That, of course, only enraged the group of shinobi further, and they collectively increased their pace.

However, it was for naught. The little blonde head abruptly dropped out of sight, startling the chūnin who had been catching up and who had expected the child to continue their trend of jumping rooftops. Instead, the little punk had dropped down into the alleyway below, scampering away into the crowded marketplace. The unsuspecting chūnin were taken completely by surprise. The majority of the group was forced to complete the jump over to the next rooftop.

Needless to say, that little stunt did nothing to endear the Uzumaki child to Konoha's residents. Especially considering the brat had just given all four heads on the Hokage Monument a makeover; an especially unattractive one. The civilians were casting dark looks at the iconic monument, muttering to themselves and to each other, but the shinobi were almost apoplectic with rage. For anyone to show that much disrespect to the four shinobi who had given their all to Konoha was an affront, but when it was  _that_  child in particular!

* * *

A fair distance away, the child who had caused so much ruckus was sitting on a stool in a ramen stand, messily slurping up the salty noodles, and completely oblivious to the danger behind them.

"NARUTOOOO!"

Blue eyes widened dramatically and tan hands froze in place, ramen only centimeters away from pink lips. "Oh shit-" was all that the child managed to get out, before suddenly being separated from the wooden stool, unceremoniously dangling in the air in front of an irate chūnin.

"Eh, heh heh, hi there, Iruka-sensei?"

The sheepish greeting did nothing to calm the ire of the scarred male. His dark brown eyes were narrowed on the little brat that he held in one hand.

"Naruto…" he drew out the prankster's name ominously. Iruka watched in satisfaction as the irrepressibly mischievous grin slid off the whiskered face and the child seemed to lose all fight in midair. Even the blonde locks looked as though they were drooping. "Do you know what day it is, Naruto?"

The child scowled up at him, defiant even in their undignified position. "Of course I know what day it is! That's why my masterpiece had to be done this morning!" A tan hand flailed about in the direction of the Hokage Monument, visible from every corner of Konoha.

Iruka resisted the urge to shake the little punk. "Masterpiece?" he scoffed instead. "It's disrespectful! And…" Iruka drew himself up to his full height, glaring. "YOU'RE LATE FOR YOUR GRADUATION EXAM!"

And with that, he stalked off back to the Academy, still carrying the grumbling little prankster and leaving behind two very amused ramen chefs.

* * *

Mizuki smiled in satisfaction, patting himself on the back for a plan well done.  _Of course_  the Uzumaki brat couldn't do a bunshin, and of course it had just lost its final chance at becoming a genin of Konoha. Why it had been allowed to enter the Academy in the first place was baffling, but in the end…

Everything was working out perfectly.

The demon had done all the hard work for him; all Mizuki needed to do was kill the beast (making it look like an accident of course, the scroll likely had protections on it, or jutsu in it, that would kill any Academy student), and take the scroll to his true leader.

Orochimaru-sama would surely reward him for this, Mizuki thought giddily. The Hebi Sannin was known to gift his most useful followers with absolutely  _delicious_ power boosts, and Mizuki was nearly breathless with anticipation. But first, he had to get the scroll off the demon brat.

There was just one problem with that.

Mizuki snarled under his breath. "Iruka."

* * *

Umino Iruka couldn't help but smile at his most exuberant student. Naruto's wide blue eyes were almost luminescent in the darkness, joyful tears held back only by force of will. Iruka hated to admit it, but Uzumaki Naruto was his favourite student; the child's determinedly cheerful attitude and never-give-in philosophy was magnetic. Tonight had only highlighted how precious the young jinchūriki was to him. No way in hell was Iruka going to let that bastard Mizuki touch his student.

'Even though in the end, it was Naruto protecting  _me,_ ' Iruka thought ruefully.

"Sensei? Should we be going to the hospital?" Naruto's delayed concern brought another smile to Iruka's lips. Typical of Naruto to ask  _after_  Iruka had already been on the receiving end of a flying tackle hug, on top of the injuries that he already had.

He placed a hand on Naruto's blonde head, grinning softly. "Don't worry about it. The ANBU will probably be here in just a minute. I'll be fine."

Right on cue, four masked figures dropped into the clearing, two immediately moving towards Naruto and Iruka where they sat at the base of a tree. The other two set about collecting Mizuki's prone body and the discarded scroll.

"Umino-san?" One of the ANBU, Tori, Iruka thought, said. "We have orders from Hokage-sama to assist you to the hospital, and escort Uzumaki-san to his office."

Naruto turned panicked eyes on him. "Don't worry about it," Iruka assured Konoha's newest genin. "Sandaime-sama probably wants to talk to you about what Mizuki said."

Naruto's face fell at the reminder, and Iruka's heart ached for his poor student. A giant, nine-tailed bombshell had been dropped on the child tonight. Iruka only hoped that the Hokage could explain the situation in a way that the young jinchūriki could understand.

He smiled, gently tapping a finger on the downtrodden genin's nose. "It'll be fine, Naruto. Go talk with the Hokage, while I go get fixed up at the hospital, and then I'll see you at the Academy for team placements tomorrow, alright?"

The little blonde nodded, face fixed into an endearingly determined little frown.

Iruka chuckled. "Good girl."


	2. Little Miss Sunshine Herself

When Uzumaki Naruto bounced into the classroom the day after she'd failed the genin exams, her classmates were understandably confused. They muttered to themselves, wondering if she had forgotten, or was just in denial (neither would surprise them). Naruto ignored them though, headed right for the back row, where her fellow deadlasts, her best friends, sat beaming at her.

The blonde girl returned their smiles with her own megawatt grin, squirming into place between Kiba and Shikamaru.

"How…?" Kiba trailed off.

Naruto snickered gleefully (even though her graduation circumstances weren't really that funny) and tapped a finger on her hitae-ate. "I'll tell you later." She promised.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome." They all three just ignored him, Chōji munching on his chips, and Kiba and Naruto wriggling with impatience.

"Oi, Naru-chan!" Luckily, the other boys in the class were there to distract her from waiting. A whole group of them congregated in front of the row of deadlasts, much to the displeasure of the other girls. Naruto saw several of them glaring at her and rolled her eyes, sticking her finger up at them. Their anger changed to snotty disdain, and then back to embarrassed anger when the boys laughed with Naruto, playfully tugging on her long ponytails. Naruto put up with it for a moment before tossing her head and whacking Kiba and Shika in the face with the golden strands.

"Now then," she settled back in her seat, arms crossed and a teasing grin pulling at her lips. "What did you idiots want?"

"Ehhhh?!" Came the expected outcry. "You know what we wanna know!"

She giggled, widening her eyes innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The leader of the pack of boys scowled. "Come on, Uzumaki-chan, tell us how come you're here."

Uzumaki-chan. Heh. It was amusing to Naruto, how the boys could never seem to be too cold to her (although the girls more than made up for that, she though with an affronted mental pout. Jealous twits). "Okay, okay," she laughingly surrendered. "I'm really supposed to be here." One tan finger tapped her new-but-old hitae-ate again. "Iruka-sensei gave me this himself."

And once again, unbelievable warmth blossomed through her whole body as she thought of the scarred chūnin who had risked his life for her, who had told her she was precious, and not a demon even though she apparently held the stupid thing in her stomach.

"That's so cool!"

"I'm so glad!"

Congratulations, Naru-chan!"

The sudden outcry of goodwill brought Naruto out of her thoughts, and a lump to her throat. "Guys…" She didn't know what to say. Her relationship with the boys in her class wasn't particularly close; they liked her more than the other girls, despite the stigma attached to her, because Naruto was just as willing to scuffle and scrap as they were, and they got a chance to try peek up her skirt (which Naruto promptly kicked them in the balls for whenever she caught them). But this, this genuine affection and happiness for her – it caught her a bit by surprise. So she simply smiled, beaming as wide as she could with her eyes still open, in the hope that these silly, idiotic, wonderful boys could see just how much it meant to her.

Apparently they could, because suddenly the bunch of them were blushing, heads lowered and hands in their hair. Naruto giggled. Being the only girl in a group of guys was hilarious. They were so cute; like puppies. "Thank you, guys." She said sincerely.

They all mumbled their replies, cheeks still red. Thankfully, a distraction presented itself in the form of Sakura and Ino getting into a catfight over who got to sit next to that cold little snowflake bastard, Sasuke.

"Jeez," one of the taller boys, Daisuke, said. "What's so great about him anyway? Why do all the girls love him so much?" He looked genuinely perplexed.

"Excuse me!" Naruto was greatly offended. Her whiskered face was scrunched up in true revulsion, blue eyes sparking in her irritation.

Shikamaru chuckled next to her, finally deigning to raise his head from the desk. "Don't worry, Naru-chan, we all know you're the only one smart enough not to fall for him." He, and the other boys, sweatdropped at Naruto's firm nod.  _What a thing to be proud of…_

"Anyway," Shikamaru went on, ignoring his friend's oddness. "I guess because he's smart and talented, and he's got that tragic backstory that makes them all want to fix him." He rolled his eyes at the thought. "Oh, and I guess he must be pretty good looking, if they insist on squealing over him so much."  _Whew._  Shikamaru didn't think he'd ever said so many words before lunch before.

Great, and now Kiba and Daisuke were looking at him like he was crazy. "What the hell? You've put that much thought into it?" Stupid Inuzuka.

"No," Shikamaru muttered pointedly. "I just thought of it now, because Daisuke asked. Why would I do something as troublesome as thinking about Sasuke, when I could be sleeping?"

That made the whole group chuckle and nod – truly, Nara laziness was legendary. Nobody loved sleeping as much as Shikamaru did, a fact that Naruto often lamented – loudly – over.

Sora, a tall brunet boy, shouldered his way to the front, so that he was face to face with the blonde girl. "Do you think that Uchiha is attractive, Naru-chan?"

Naruto giggled. Poor Sora looked as though his whole world depended on her answer. She wasn't entirely sure why it mattered, if all those stupid fluttery girls were in love with the bastard, but then, she wasn't a boy. Even if she was though, Naruto was perfectly sure that she would never like anybody stupid enough to fall for that ice-hearted snowflake.

"Meh," Naruto tipped her hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "I guess he is kinda pretty, for a boy." Aw, they all looked heartbroken. Funny puppies. "But he's too much of a snowflake for me. An angry snowflake." She grinned at the image that her words had conjured. Prissy ass bastard.

Naruto didn't know how the guys would have replied, because Iruka-sensei chose that moment to enter the room, sending everybody scattering to their seats in fright. The girl took quite a bit of satisfaction in the fact that for once, she wasn't the one getting in trouble. Without her notice, a huge, shit eating grin spread across her face, gaining bemused glances from Kiba, Shikamaru and Chōji.

"Alright, you brats!" Iruka-sensei roared irritably. "Sit down and shut up!"

This was so exciting! Naruto wriggled in her seat, wishing that Iruka-sensei would just hurry up and get to announcing the teams, instead of lecturing about shinobi duties and all that crap. She just wanted to become a kickass kunoichi , and then become Hokage, so that everybody in the village would see how awesome she really was, even if she had a shitty demon in her belly.

"And Team Seven will consist of: Uzumaki Naruto,"  _YES! Finally!_ "Haruno Sakura,"  _NO! Why?!_  "And Uchiha Sasuke."  _WHAT?!_

"NOOOOO!" Naruto's horrified wailing drowned out even Sakura's triumphant shouts. The whole class turned to stare as one at the distraught blonde girl, causing Kiba and Chōji to sink down in their seats (Shikamaru was asleep).

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei snapped. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto turned betrayed blue eyes on the chūnin. "Why would you do this to me?"

"What?" He was utterly nonplussed.

"My team!" She cried. "I finally become a genin, and you give me Fairy Floss and the Snowflake!"

There was a beat of silence, before the entire class burst out in raucous laughter. Sasuke looked offended and Sakura looked infuriated, but Naruto had no time for them. She stared pleadingly at Iruka-sensei, who had barely held in his own laughter, silently begging him to reconsider.

Unfortunately, all Naruto got in return was a harsh scowl as her sensei pulled himself together. "Naruto! As the dead-last, you don't get to have a say in who your teammates are! Especially when one of them is the Rookie of the Year!" Iruka-sensei gestured at Sasuke-snowflake, as if that was supposed to mean something to her.

Naruto flopped back in her seat, an intense scowl marring her face. Then she shook her head, once again hitting Kiba and Shikamaru with her long ponytails. This would not ruin her mood – she wouldn't let it! Even if she was stuck with two of her least favourite people as teammates, Uzumaki Naruto would not give up, dattebayo! She was a real ninja now, and nothing would stop her from becoming Hokage!

* * *

"What is taking so looooooong?!" Naruto groaned, throwing her head back dramatically. She had been stuck waiting in the classroom with Sakura and Sasuke for over two hours, and she was bored. Her new teammates were no fun at all; Sasuke was a brooding bastard, and Sakura was a delusional bubble brain.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Despite Sakura's snapped words, Naruto could tell that the other girl agreed with her.

"What'd you say, Fairy Floss?!" Naruto yelled back, just for the sake of having something to do.

Sakura tossed her long pink hair, glaring at the blonde girl. "What's that you're calling me, Banana Brain?!"

"What? Fairy Floss?" Naruto grinned mockingly. "It suits ya, don't it Sasuke?" Her grin gained an evil edge at the way Sakura's head snapped around in horror, desperately watching Sasuke for any sign that he agreed with Naruto.

Sasuke grunted, eyeing the two of them with annoyance. Naruto, on a spur of the moment decision, vaulted atop the desk that the teme was sitting at, and got right up in his face, glaring into his black eyes. She ignored the way Sakura started yelling in outrage, and instead spoke to the Uchiha.

"What's your problem, huh? Think you're too cool for us, Snowflake-chan?"

Sasuke's answer was lost in the shrieks that both girls let out when an unexpected voice spoke up. "Yo."

What wasn't lost, however, was the sight of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke staring at each other with wide, horrified eyes, their mouths pressed together in a parody of a kiss.

"Hmm," the voice that had caused Naruto's unfortunate fall forward spoke up again, catching the attention of all three genin and breaking the moment of stillness. "My first impression is… this is going to be fun."

Naruto finally broke away from Sasuke's pale visage, almost spitting in disgust but holding back at the last minute. She wiped her arm across her mouth instead, glaring at the tall, silver haired jōnin with the masked face who was standing in the doorway to the classroom.

"Who the hell are you?!" She demanded, leaping off the desk and away from the icy aura that Sasuke-teme was emanating.

The jerk with the masked face and one eye covered by his hitae-ate simply smiled (Naruto assumed it was a smile; her eyes did the same upward curving thing) and waved two fingers. "Well, it would seem that I'm to be your new jōnin-sensei."

Naruto gaped. Before she could even begin to find the words that she wanted to say to that, the stranger had disappeared in a puff of smoke, a mirth-filled "Meet me on the roof in ten minutes!" the only evidence that he had ever been there in the first place.

Slowly, Naruto turned to face her teammates, bright eyes wide with dread. "You don't think he was serious, do you?"

Sasuke twitched, pale face pinched with annoyance. "Of course he was serious, dobe." He got up and, hands stuffed in his pockets, sauntered leisurely out the door, Sakura chasing quickly after him.

The blonde girl growled, shaking her fist at the departing duo before breaking into a run to overtake them.

She couldn't  _believe_  the freaks that she had been given as teammates. What was she going to do with them?


	3. The Brats

Kakashi was amused. It seemed like this teaching thing was going to be more fun than he'd thought; already he had managed to create a scene cheesy enough to be in one of Jiraiya-sama's books.

He leaned back against the railing that enclosed the roof of the Academy, seemingly lost in his little orange book. In actuality, his eyes were trailing over words that he pretty much had memorized, while his ears listened out for the thumping of little genin feet.

Soon enough, the door to the roof crashed open, and Konoha's resident Jinchūriki stumbled out. Her teammates were seconds behind her. All three of them were sending burning glares of resentment Kakashi's way.

He waved back.

The interviews that followed weren't at all surprising; Naruto was a loudmouthed brat, Sasuke was a moody brat, and Sakura was an obsessed brat. And did he mention that they all hated each other? Well, Naruto hated both of them, and they both hated her. Not that the relationship between the other two was any healthier.

Kakashi really had his work cut out for him with these three.

* * *

The bell test didn't go any better; they barely scraped through by the skin of their teeth. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure if it was just because the three of them didn't get along in the first place, which made them working together all the less likely, or if it simply hadn't occurred to any of them to team up.

He didn't know which one was worse.

Ah, well. Naruto's natural puppy-dog eyes had prevailed, and they had passed, in the end. Even if sharing food was Kakashi grasping at straws to allow them a pass.

"Ne, ne, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto piped up behind him. "Where are we going?" Apparently she had forgiven him for that little kissing incident.

Kakashi glanced back, smirking at his reluctantly curious (Sasuke) and impatient (Naruto) genin. "Maa, Naruto-chan, can't you just wait and see?"

She skipped up to walk at his side, shaking her head furiously. "Tell meeeeeee, Sensei!" She pleaded, pouting up at him with big blue eyes. Kakashi held in a snort – that was definitely a practiced expression.

"NARUTOOOOOO!" Ahh, that was his other lovely little kunoichi-in-training. "STOP HARASSING SENSEI!"

"Shut up, Bubble Brain!" Naruto shot back, suddenly walking backwards as she turned to argue with Sakura. "You wanna know just as much as I do!"

Sighing, Kakashi tuned out the girls' high pitched voices, returning his attention to the little orange book in his hand. The walk from the little red bridge to Training Ground Two took almost twenty minutes, a journey interspersed with the shrieks of preteen girls, the occasional 'Hn's of a mood avenger, and Kakashi's own poorly hidden snorts as he eavesdropped on his genins' spirited conversation.

He wondered if he should maybe put a stop to all that arguing…

Nah. Forcing them to get along wouldn't help anything – they would just have to get used to each other.

"You're late, Kakashi!"

He sniggered. That was a familiar sentence.

Before he could reply to the aggravated shout though, a little blonde blur had gone racing past him, shrieking her lungs out.

"Kibaaaaaaa! Shikaaaaaaa! Chōjiiiiiii!"

Kakashi watched on in amusement as his student ran towards three of the male genin who were waiting for them, bowling straight into their waiting arms and sending all four of the to the ground. So, she didn't hate  _all_  of her classmates.

Just the ones she'd been stuck with.

"Hey, Naru-chan." The largest boy, obviously an Inuzuka, grinned nonchalantly at the girl who was somehow sprawled equally over each of the three boys. His ninken yapped beside them.

"Good to see you, Naru-chan." That was the Akimichi boy, smiling cheerily and holding his – miraculously – full bag of chips out to the side of the pile.

"Troublesome as ever, Naru-chan." And there was the Nara boy, sighing tiredly into the golden hair covering his face.

Naruto scrambled to her feet, hauling the Nara up with her. "I missed you guys!"

She received three fond smiles in return for the sentiment, even as the Nara spoke exasperatedly. "It's only been a day."

Deciding to leave the genin to their own devices (and observing the way that Sasuke was blatantly ignoring his old classmates, leaning against a tree that was as far away from where Sakura and another blonde girl had just started arguing as he could get), Kakashi sidled up to Asuma and Kurenai where they had been observing their own genin.

"Anything interesting so far?" He muttered, eyes still conspicuously on his book.

Asuma snorted. "Nah. Typical kid behaviour; my three knew each other already, and the boys are pretty friendly with Inuzuka, but nothing really stood out until you guys got here."

Kurenai nodded. "Hinata-chan is very shy, but she and Shino-kun seem to be getting along quite well. Kiba-kun ditched them as soon as he saw the other boys, but it's only been one day."

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "My three have very unhealthy feelings for each other."

Asuma's second snort was drowned out by a shout of surprise. Naruto, who had been huddling with her little cohorts, suddenly barrelled over, flinging herself at the burly shinobi. "Asuma-ji-chan!" She shouted, arms wrapped tightly around his waist. "Where have you been?!"

Well. The Sandaime hadn't said anything about  _this_.

Kakashi and Kurenai both eyed Asuma questioningly. He grinned sheepishly back, patting Naruto's little blonde head. She detached herself quickly, standing back and staring at Asuma with narrowed eyes.

"Where the hell did you disappear to?!" She demanded.

Asuma raised his hands defensively. "I didn't think you would remember me, Naruto-chan. I haven't seen you since you were what, eight?"

Naruto nodded furiously. "Jiji said you were  _busy_." The quotation marks were almost visible. Kakashi was strangely proud.

"Naruto-chan, how do you know Asuma-sensei?" He butted in, not bothering to contain his curiosity. By now, the remaining genin had also gathered around, evidently just as lost as the jōnin.

"Ehh, I met him aaaaaages ago!" Naruto cried exuberantly. "At the Tower! And I was really surprised, coz I didn't know Jii-chan had a son."

"What?" The little Yamanaka girl that Sakura had been arguing with stepped forward, hands on hips and a demanding frown on her face. "Naruto, how could you not know that your own Grandfather had a son? And how are you even related to our sensei?"

Asuma was the one who answered – wisely, in Kakashi's opinion. Naruto looked supremely offended, and was probably about to start a shouting match. "It's okay, Naruto-chan," Asuma smiled over at the shorter blonde. "And Ino-chan, we're not really related. Naruto-chan is on friendly terms with my father, which is why she calls me her uncle."

Ino raised a finger to her lips, a thoughtful gesture that would likely draw a fair bit of attention when she grew older, Kakashi thought amusedly. "But Asuma-sensei, you said yesterday that your father is the Hokage."

Kakashi waited with barely hidden glee as the realization crept over all of the genin's faces.

"Whaaaaaaat?!" Sakura and Ino erupted at the same time.

Naruto stuck her tongue out at the other girls. "Bleehhh! That's what you get for being stuck up cows back in the Academy and not listening to me!"

"Why you!" Sakura launched herself forward, clearly looking to swing her clenched fist directly into Naruto's head. Kakashi caught her easily, not even looking up from his book. He wasn't reading it, of course, this was far too hilarious a situation to only pay half-attention to, but he did have a reputation to uphold.

"Maa, maa, calm down kids," Kakashi chuckled, still holding onto a struggling Sakura. "Let's just get on with it, shall we?"

That was enough to gain the genin's attention; Naruto stopped her taunting, and Sakura's enraged writhing calmed enough for Kakashi to feel comfortable putting her back on the ground. All nine of the new graduates were loosely congregated around the three jōnin, in some semblance of order.

And by order, Kakashi meant that the genin were all standing in front of the right sensei, but somehow nowhere near their own teammates. Team Seven, being in the middle, had Naruto squashed between her three friends from the other teams, Sakura glaring at Ino, and Sasuke hovering around the back, with the little Hyūga girl and the Aburame boy.

Exchanging glances with his fellow sensei, Kakashi just knew that these little brats wouldn't be making anything easy for him.

* * *

Sasuke could barely contain his impatience. He was finally,  _finally,_  a genin, able to start doing more intense training and learning to become stronger, and he was stuck  _here,_  once again forced into interaction with his annoying classmates from the Academy.

Currently, Sasuke was sitting between the dobe and the Hyūga – probably the safest place for him among the kunoichi, even if Naruto was an aggravating failure of a ninja.

At least  _she_  didn't have a crush on him.

"Right!" Yūhi Kurenai, as the female jōnin had introduced herself, clapped her hands sharply. "I suppose everybody wants to know exactly what we're doing here?"

There was a chorus of agreements.

"It's simple, really. The three of us are all new jōnin-sensei, and we all attended the Academy during wartime. We thought it might be easier on all of us if we could get a general idea of what the Academy taught you, and where you're all at." Kurenai explained, smiling gently.

"Does that mean we get to spar?!" Naruto shouted eagerly, almost deafening Sasuke.

On the other side of the dobe, Kakashi chuckled lightly. "No, Naruto-chan, no sparring. Not yet, anyway."

The girl settled back with a pout, arms crossed huffily. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Their sensei had already seen what they were capable of, during the bell test. This was… information gathering.

"Ano, so what exactly do you want to know?" Sakura spoke up, shyly twirling a strand of pink hair around her finger.

Asuma grinned, a cigarette in between his teeth. "Anything you guys wanna tell us. Favourite subject, best subject, all that kind of stuff."

Ah. Sasuke blinked, taking in the mischief glimmering in the male jōnin's eyes. That was why all three teams had been gathered together for something as simple as this; all sorts of truths would out themselves, with nine new genin eager to show off.

"Why don't you start us off, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi said languidly. "You don't have to go in-depth, just give us a basic overview." He eye-smiled at them all and Sasuke had the oddest feeling that if his one eye were open, it would be gleaming in an extremely sinister way.

The pinkette blinked, darting a quick glance in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke determinedly didn't let on that he'd noticed it; what was the girl even looking to him for?  _He_ didn't know her answers to the jōnin's questions (nor did he particularly care, to be honest).

"Weeeell, I guess my favourite subject at the Academy was a tie between history and ninjutsu practise," she shot a glare at Yamanaka, who'd made a snide comment about her 'oversized forehead matching her oversized brain'. "Because they were both really interesting! My least favourite was probably taijutsu practise, and," green eyes flicked nervously towards Sasuke, who once again ignored her. He already knew what she was going to say, and he didn't  _care_  (beyond what it might mean for the team, and therefore, his own training). "It was also my weakest class."

Kurenai clapped her hands together, smiling softly at the pinkette. "Well done, Sakura-chan! Thank you for being honest." The girl's face lit up in pleasure at the praise. "And now it's Naruto-chan's turn, yes?"

Sasuke sighed. This was going to take forever. When would the real training start?

* * *

Later that night, Kakashi was lying flat on his back atop his single bed, wondering if he had made a mistake in accepting this assignment. Child-minding was exhausting. He hoped to  _god_ that it was some kind of first day excitement that'd had his brats so energetic today, but in the deepest part of his soul, he knew it was wishful thinking.

They were only just getting started.


	4. Kakashi Causes Some Shit

Naruto was, very honestly, quite fed up with being a genin. If they could just hurry up and promote her to Hokage, that would be great.

"Maa, Naruto-chan, are you slacking off?"

Sticking her tongue out at Kakashi-sensei – who  _wasn't even looking_ , the pervy bastard – Naruto went back to her sweeping, silently vowing to herself that she was going to burn that stupid Icha Icha book if it was the last thing she ever did. Maybe if Sensei didn't have such a perverted distraction all the time, he would actually see how boring these D-ranks were and decide to train them  _properly_. Or, at least, give them a proper mission.

"I can see the plans brewing in that little blonde head of yours, Naruto-chan. I really wish you wouldn't try, it makes it hard to read."

" _YOU AREN'T EVEN LOOKING AT ME, HENTAI-SENSEI."_

The jōnin lifted his head, eye-smiling at her (fake) jovially. "I don't need to be looking to know what you're thinking, Naruto-chan. Your thoughts are very loud."

Naruto snarled wordlessly at him, attacking the floor with a vengeance (and damaging her broom irreparably in the process). This was stupid! She was a  _ninja_ , why was she cleaning some random old lady's attic?

Her thoughts continued in that vein right up until the three genin had finished their 'mission' and were on their way to the training ground where, for the last week, Kakashi-sensei'd been having them do lame shit like run laps and practise their kunai and shuriken throwing. It was the same old academy stuff and Naruto was  _over it_. She wanted to do something  _fun_.

Training that day ended with the three genin in a foul mood, courtesy of Naruto's constant complaining, and Kakashi deciding to invest in a pair of earplugs.

* * *

The next day, the Hokage happened to be manning the mission desk when Team Seven made their appearance. Naruto, upon seeing him, immediately squared her shoulders. "Jiji! Give us a  _real_  mission, dattebayo! I'm sick of doing chores!"

"Stupid! Don't talk to Hokage-sama like that!" Sakura jabbed her in the ribs.

"What?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, meeting the pinkette's gaze head-on. "You agree right? I know both of you hate them just as much as I do."

Sakura spluttered out something about 'respect' or whatever, but Naruto had already stopped listening. Sarutobi-jiji was smiling at her, eyes twinkling in that maddening way of his. "I'm afraid that's not up to me, Naruto-chan," he told her. "It's your jōnin-sensei's choice. If he feels that you're ready to start taking C-ranks, I would be more than happy to give you one."

"Maa, Hokage-sama, why would you tell her that?" Kakashi peered mournfully over the top of his book. "Now she's never going to stop."

Naruto, sensing that she was close to getting what she wanted, grinned like a shark (or a fox). "Come on, Sensei," she cooed, sidling right up to him and batting her eyelashes. "It'll be fun."

The jōnin eyed her dubiously. "I don't think we share the same definition of 'fun', Naruto-chan."

Well. That was probably true.

"I'll tell you what," Kakashi-sensei went on, tucking his orange book away. "It's still too early to be going on C-ranks, but-" he spoke up, to be heard over Naruto's wail of despair. "I suppose I could step your training up, if the three of you think you're ready for it."

Naruto wouldn't ever admit it, but the 'duh' looks that she and Sasuke-snowflake gave their sensei were identical.

* * *

Two weeks after that, Naruto didn't think she had ever been so tired. Or satisfied.

Kakashi-sensei had been as good as his word. Every afternoon, once Team Seven was done with their daily shitty D-rank, they would all troop back to Training Ground Three, where Kakashi-sensei would summon two shadow clones, and put the genin through their individual paces.

Sakura, Naruto was sure, hated her more than ever for being the cause of this. The jinchūriki didn't know the specifics of what their sensei was doing with the pinkette, but Sakura stumbled home every day sweating and exhausted, and glaring death at Naruto.

On the upside, Sakura barely had time to squeal at Sasuke much anymore. Naruto figured the Uchiha appreciated that.

"Looks like we're done for the day, Naruto-chan."

Naruto, flat on her back and heaving for breath, forced her body to roll so that she could glare at her sensei. "I'm- not- done- with- you- yet-" she wheezed. "Just- you- wait."

She rolled back.

It had been a particularly brutal taijutsu lesson today. Kakashi-sensei seemed to take great pleasure from kicking the shit out of her, occasionally throwing in the odd helpful comment.

(Naruto refused to accept the fact that it was the best way to help her learn. Kakashi-sensei was just a perverted sadist, damnit!).

"Give it up, dobe." Sasuke stumbled out from the treeline, dripping sweat. "You look dead. Get him tomorrow."

Naruto growled. Much as she hated to say it, Sasuke was right. Her body ached abominably, and even her seemingly endless well of energy was depleted. Kakashi-sensei really knew how to make the most of their training time. Even Naruto could tell that her taijutsu had improved by leaps and bounds since the Academy.

"Maa, what's this?" Kakashi-sensei, infuriatingly enough, didn't look anything like tired or sore. "My own little genin are plotting against me? Together? How cute~"

"I'll show you cute." Naruto muttered, her breath finally coming easy again.

Sakura made an appearance then (if being dumped unceremoniously on top of Naruto by their asshole jōnin-sensei's clone because she'd lost the ability to walk could be called such), gasping weakly. She reeked of sweat – although Naruto probably wasn't much better – and Naruto could feel her rabbiting heartbeat against her stomach, where Kakashi-sensei had dropped her.

Several bottles of water and what looked like energy bars also fell out of the sky, landing right in front of Naruto's face. There were three of each, which meant Sasuke would have to ditch the tree he was using to prop his body (ego) up if he wanted one.

"Well," Kakashi-sensei clapped his hands together, eye-smiling at them. Bastard. "That's all for today, kids. I'll see you bright and early at the mission desk again tomorrow. Ja ne."

And he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto cursed, flinging an arm up to grab a bottle and a bar. "Get up, Fairy Floss," she said, patting Sakura with the other hand. "I need to sit up."

Sakura… wiggled. It seemed like a sincere attempt at moving, but the girl was just too drained. She was too tired to even be embarrassed, although that might've been because she couldn't see Sasuke trying to become one with a tree. Naruto, who had decided in the last two weeks that she was going to be the  _nice_  one in this team of weirdos, sighed. She awkwardly shuffled so that the pinkette was draped across her thighs instead of her stomach, and sat up.

Now Sakura was in her lap.

Naruto, feeling very magnanimous, replaced the food and drink on the ground next to her, and then curled her hands securely around her teammate. She managed to flip the other girl with minimal hassle, and grinned broadly down at her.

"Drink?"

The other girl made a hoarse noise that sounded enough like 'please' that Naruto carefully held her head up and pressed a bottle to her lips. It honestly made her feel kinda warm inside; this was the most they'd ever gotten along since graduation. Sakura wasn't half as annoying when she was too tired to talk.

Sasuke chose then to slowly make his way over to them. He settled tentatively at Naruto's back, not touching but close enough that she could feel his warmth. It was an improvement. Usually he grabbed his share of the food and water and then consumed it on the way home. Naruto wasn't sure what made him stay behind today (probably Kakashi-sensei had been an extra hard-ass and worn the bastard out), but it made her feel some kinda comradery with her two weirdos, to be sitting here recovering with them.

A stalker, a snowflake, and a demon. It was like a bad punchline.

She took a sip from her own bottle, thoughts wheeling in lazy circles. One moment she was basking in the strange comfort that came from sitting in silence with people she'd never actually liked, and the next she remembered that she had a sensei who needed a little payback. Although he'd kept his promise about training, he was still a smug, perverted asshole about it. Various pranks and tricks flitted through her mind, but Naruto didn't feel right about any of them. Kakashi-sensei was a jōnin, so most of her usual catalogue would be a mild annoyance at best. Besides, they wouldn't have the same satisfaction as giving him a taste of his own medicine would.

"Guys?"

"Hn."

"Mm?"

Naruto leaned back until she was in contact with Sasuke. He jerked, but didn't move away. Naruto took it as a win, and smiled, glad he couldn't see. "D'ya think the three of us together would be enough to make Sensei actually sweat for once?"

Sasuke growled.

Sakura opened her eyes, staring up at Naruto like 'what do  _you_  think?'.

Naruto sighed. "I didn't think so. Guess I'll just have to figure something else out, dattebayo."

* * *

It came to her later that night, when she was in bed, drifting in that half-way point between wake and sleep. A random stream of memories flowed through her mind, small moments from her life that made her smile. It was her favourite way to fall asleep; there was nothing that worked better at fighting off the nightmares.

Anyway, as she was starting to doze off, a specific memory came to her that had her eyes flying open with a gasp. It was from last year, one time when she was sitting alone on the Yondaime's head, up on the Hokage Monument. Some crazy guy had climbed up the mountain using only his hands and they'd scared the shit out of each other with their respective presences. He'd jabbered away at her for a while and Naruto had been so impressed by what he'd done that she'd actually  _listened_. Naruto thought furiously, trying to remember the whole conversation – if she was right, she had the perfect way to get back at Kakashi-sensei.

When it finally came to her, the resulting grin was unholy. Naruto went to sleep that night holding tight to the image of Kakashi's stupid masked face stark with horror.

Her dreams had never been sweeter.

* * *

The next day was what Kakashi-sensei liked to call a 'rest' day. Naruto liked to say that he was full of shit. Just because they weren't sweating literal waterfalls did  _not_ mean they were resting.

"I hope you're happy with yourself, Banana Brain," Sakura snarled at her over her shoulder. "You're the one who encouraged this."

The three genin were standing in a loose circle, facing outward, while Kakashi sent hoards of clones at them. They were supposed to take the clones out with kunai or shuriken before they could get too close, otherwise the low-grade exploding tags the jōnin had attached to them would go off. It only counted, however, if their weapons hit the varyingly sized paper targets that Kakashi had also attached to the clones.

It'd been a long afternoon.

Naruto didn't respond to Sakura, too busy trying to hit the tiny target on one clone's kneecap. If she was honest though, Naruto was extremely pleased with herself. She'd managed to harass their sensei into actual (hellish) training. She could  _feel_  how much stronger she'd gotten in only a couple of weeks. It wouldn't be too much longer before she'd be able to steal the hat right off the Sandaime's wrinkly old head!

Also, she'd figured out the ultimate revenge on Kakashi.

"Alright kids, I think that's enough for today!" Kakashi-sensei called out, right as Naruto managed to hit her kneecap target, making the clone crumble into dirt. She beamed at him, wide enough that he backed away looking suspicious.

"What's with that look, Naruto-chan?" He asked cautiously.

Naruto shrugged, still beaming. She followed Sasuke and Sakura over to the treeline where Kakashi-sensei had already dropped their post-training snacks and snatched hers up. "I'm off, team! See you tomorrow!"

And she bounced away, leaving the rest of Team Seven to stare after her in utter bemusement. She had a plan that needed to be put into action.


	5. Welcoming Rivals

“Ah! The most Youthful Uzumaki-chan! What can we do for you today?”

Naruto grinned and waved merrily as she approached. “Hi, Eyebrows-ji-chan! Eyebrows-nii-chan!”

Just like every other time before, the two green-clad males burst into exuberant tears at the nicknames. Naruto rocked back and forth on her heels, content to wait it out. At this point, she was used to it.

It took barely three minutes – a record - for the two black-haired shinobi to calm themselves enough to talk. They all plonked themselves down on the grass in the middle of the training ground they had been utilising before Naruto interrupted. Twin pairs of round black eyes blinked expectantly at her.

“So, Eyebrows-ji-chan, I was wondering about your Eternal Rival. You said he’s really cool, right?”

“Ah-ha!” Eyebrows-ji-chan, AKA Maito Gai, jōnin of Konohagakure, pointed dramatically at her. “Has young Uzumaki-chan found herself a candidate to be her Eternal Rival? Are you here to determine the qualities desired in such a person?”

“Um.” Naruto blinked. Went with it. “I’m not sure. Neither of my teammates feel like rivals, really, not like with Lee and that asshole, Neji.”

Eyebrows-nii-chan, AKA Rock Lee, genin of Konohagakure, nodded seriously. “I knew immediately that Neji was to be my destined Rival! If you are uncertain about your teammates, then perhaps you are still waiting to meet that special person!”

“Indeed, Lee.” Gai rubbed a hand over his chin. “My own Rival, the cool and hip Kakashi, was not on my genin team, although we did go to school together.”

Bingo.

Naruto felt her lips curve up into a grin. She wriggled gleefully in place, even as she congratulated herself for being a goddamn genius.

“You know, Eyebrows-ji, you should come by our training sometime. You could see if my teammates have the potential to be proper rivals, and surprise Kakashi-sensei at the same time. Maybe give him some tips! He’s still pretty new to this teaching thing.” Naruto smiled, face almost as bright as her imagined halo.

Gai gasped. “What? My Rival Kakashi is young Uzumaki-chan’s jōnin-sensei?”

“Hm? He didn’t tell you?”

“I SEE THE RESEMBLENCE!” Gai shouted. “I SEE THAT KAKASHI HAS BEEN PASSING ON HIS HIP WAYS TO HIS IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNG STUDENTS.”

Naruto giggled. “He sure has,” she said with mock solemnity. “I’m pretty sure Sasuke has already started to pick up on his habits, -ttebayo. He’s started ignoring us even more now, just like Kakashi-sensei does, and he says even less now than he did at the start!”

_Sorry, Sensei. It’s not your fault Sasuke’s such a prick._

Gai hummed, nodding. “Indeed, the young Uchiha does seem the type to be easily influenced by such behaviours.”

“So you’ll come visit us?” Naruto asked, blinking hopefully.

Two sets of gleaming white teeth flashed at her as both jōnin and genin grinned widely. They had leaped to their feet in order to assume their signature Nice Guy pose, two thumbs up the only thing that Naruto needed to know that she had won.

* * *

 

It took another week for her revenge plan to come to fruition.

Naruto didn’t mind too much; the anticipation itself was enough to satisfy her, mostly because she couldn’t hide it and was thus freaking the shit out of her team. Kakashi-sensei included.

Knowing what was coming made it easy for Naruto to put up with the stupid, boring chores that everybody dared to call D-ranks, and to get through whatever fresh hell Kakashi-sensei devised for training each day with an unwavering smile on her lips. It may have set her progress with Sasuke and Sakura back a little, but, well. Sacrifices and all that.

(Naruto would know, being a jinchūriki and all).

When the day finally came, Kakashi-sensei was having the three genin facing off against his earth clones again, only with shuriken this time. It was one of Naruto’s favourite exercises, if she was being honest. Aside from the whole ‘throwing pointy shit at bits of paper that _explode_ ’, Naruto really enjoyed being back-to-back-to-back with Sasuke and Sakura. She still didn’t particularly like them as _people_ , but they were shaping up to be a pretty damn good team. They would be even better once Sasuke stopped being an asshole, and Sakura stopped being such a bubble brain, but Naruto was working on that.

For now, she was confident that they had her back, and she had theirs. It was enough.

Anyway, the three genin were doing pretty well against their sensei’s clones, if Naruto did say so herself. They were improving so much so fast; Naruto was _definitely_ stealing the Sandaime’s hat before the year was out. Her own improvement at throwing shuriken filled her with giddy delight, and she cackled every time she was the cause of a clone’s explosion.

When the smoke from the last one blowing to bits coincided with Maito Gai puffing into existence atop his summoning turtle, Naruto’s grin stretched impossibly wide. Kakashi-sensei’s eyes widening with absolute horror was so, _so_ satisfying.

“My Eternal Rival, Kakashi!” Gai shouted, leaping from the turtle’s back and pointing an accusing finger at the silver-haired jōnin. “I hear that you have finally taken on the honour of guiding Konohagakure’s next generation of shinobi! I have come to congratulate you, and offer any advice that you may need.”

His smile was blinding, as usual. Naruto thought she heard Sakura whimper.

“Gai.”

“Yes, Kakashi?”

“How do you know my genin?”

Naruto laughed. She left her spot between Sasuke and Sakura, skipping up to Gai and throwing him a Nice Guy pose. Which the two of them then turned on Kakashi-sensei.

Who, Naruto was mighty pleased to noticed, looked like he had the world’s biggest headache.

“Thanks for coming, Eyebrows-ji-chan,” she said, ritual greeting complete. “Kakashi-sensei could really do with your expertise.”

Her sensei sighed. “Naruto-chan, why?”

 _‘Because you’re a dick’_ , Naruto carefully did not say. Instead, she just smiled and shrugged.

“I thought you would appreciate the help, dattebayo.”

His one grey eye blinked dubiously. “Right. Well, whatever. You two,” he gestured the other genin closer. “Come here, I promise he doesn’t bite. No matter what he looks like.”

Sasuke and Sakura both shuffled closer. Their identically wary expressions were a sight that Naruto was going to treasure for the rest of forever.

Kakashi-sensei’s introductions were short, but that didn’t matter. Naruto had already given Gai all the details last week; he knew pretty much everything about them that she herself did. Which, honestly, wasn’t much, but whatever. It was enough.

Gai beamed at them. “It is nice to meet you both! I am Maito Gai, Konoha’s Magnificent Green Beast! My own genin are on their way; feel free to ask them anything you want to know about the journey towards becoming an excellent shinobi.”

Naruto hastily covered up a snort. Sasuke would die before he asked any _genin_ for advice, and Neji would die before he gave it. Lee was actually inspirational _as fuck,_ but Naruto’s teammates wouldn’t take him seriously. Hopefully Sakura would talk to Tenten though, because Tenten was fucking _cool_. If she rubbed off on Sakura even a little bit, Naruto’s life would be so much better.

Actually, Naruto was going to introduce Tenten to everybody. The older girl had a way of motivating people without even trying, and Shikamaru could definitely use some of that.

“Your mini-me is coming?” Kakashi asked, already sounding exhausted.

“You guys are gonna love Lee,” Naruto assured (lied to) her teammates, grin shit-eating. “He’s the best, his taijutsu is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” (That part was _not_ a lie).

Gai laughed, chest puffed up proudly. “Indeed, Uzumaki-chan! Lee has put tremendous effort into being the best taijutsu fighter he can be. It makes me unbelievably happy to see that his hard work is paying off.”

Black eyes welled up with tears. Sasuke shot Kakashi-sensei an incredulous glance that the jōnin could only shrug at. Naruto didn’t notice, because she was rubbing tears out of her own eyes.

Again: inspirational as fuck.

“Oh god.”

Naruto blinked, peeking past her fists at her sensei. He was watching her with more than a little desperation. She held back a grin.

 _Too easy_.

“What is it, Sensei?” She asked, knuckling at her eyes once more for good measure.

“Please tell me that you haven’t been infected by Gai and his little clone, Naruto-chan.”

Gai made a _hmph_ sound. “Uzumaki-chan could do no better than Lee as a role model, Kakashi.”

Naruto dropped her fists to her hips, nodding emphatically. “At least they’re not _perverts_ , Sensei.”

It was probably a good thing that Lee chose that moment to explode out of the trees, closely followed by an exasperated Tenten and the ever-unimpressed Hyūga Neji. As the three older genin got closer, Naruto had the pleasure of watching Sakura and Kakashi-sensei try to fold in on themselves in an attempt to escape. Sasuke was probably too prideful, but even he was standing stock still, like he was trying to blend in with the background.

“Gai-sensei!” Lee came to a halt in front of them, grinning broadly and standing in a classic Nice Guy pose. “We have found you!”

Neji and Tenten slowed down much more sedately. Tenten waved at Naruto, smiling and rolling her eyes at her teammate. Naruto grinned back, jerking a thumb at her own. Something warm and precious sparked to life in her heart at the conspiratorial actions; it felt a little like having a friend.

“Lee!” Gai cried. “Tenten! Neji! You all know my Eternal Rival, yes?”

Kakashi-sensei gave them a sarcastic little finger-wiggle of a wave.

They all nodded back (one with more enthusiasm than the others).

“And of course you know the young Uzumaki-chan,” Gai continued, shooting her a quick smile. Naruto returned it with two thumbs up. “But these two-“ he whipped an arm out to indicate Sasuke and Sakura, who had _not_ managed to become chameleons in the last few minutes. “Are her genin cellmates – your newest kouhai.”

Literal sparkles exploded into being around Lee’s head.

Unfortunately, before he could leap on Naruto’s teammates, Tenten had taken him by the collar and was smiling warmly at them instead. “Congratulations on graduating,” she said, slapping a casual hand over Lee’s mouth. “I’m Tenten, and these are my teammates, Rock Lee and Hyūga Neji. We were in the year above yours, so if you’ve got any questions about being a genin, you’re welcome to come ask us.”

Neji didn’t look like he agreed with that.

That was okay; Naruto never particularly cared about what he had to say anyway, the fate-obsessed dick.

Gai was crying again though, proud tears pouring down his face like a waterfall. Kakashi-sensei was starting to look a little flighty, much to Naruto’s delight. She sidled up to him and grabbed onto his arm, hugging it tightly to herself. The pained expression he directed down at her was enough to feed her soul for months.

She beamed back.

“Naruto-chan,” he whispered it out of the corner of his mouth. “You realise I have to get you back for this, right?”

Complete and utter glee shot through her. She wiggled in place, squeezing his arm even tighter. “Do your worst, Sensei.”

A large hand dropped into her hair, ruffling vigorously. “You’re going to regret saying that, brat.”

Naruto just shook her head, grinning. She dropped her captive arm and skipped over to fling herself at Lee. He’d been excitedly recounting stories of C-ranks that Team Gai had been on to Sasuke and Sakura (under Tenten’s close supervision), but he took her weight with little to no effort, simply taking a moment to heft her higher up his back. Naruto rested her chin on his shiny black hair, smiling down at her fellow genin with the air of a particularly satisfied cat. Her teammates and Neji stared back at her suspiciously, but Tenten just laughed and patted her leg.

“You’ve had a pretty good day, ne, Naruto?”

She had. She really had.

And it was so cute that everybody seemed to think she was finished.

Her smile turned into grin so toothy that everybody took a step back, expressions turning wary. “The best. And it’s not over yet.”


End file.
